Flat Broke with Two Goats: a Memoir by Jennifer McGaha

Reviewed by Kristin

Jennifer McGaha has deep roots in Appalachia, but her upbringing in an upper middle class household removed her from the hills and hollers as well as stereotypical rustic, rugged living.  The surrounding mountains provide beautiful scenery for well-off and dirt-poor folks alike, but your worldview may be very different when you can jump in your SUV and drive out of the cul-de-sac to a nearby Starbucks.  Jennifer and husband David and their three children were used to all the modern conveniences they could buy and they enjoyed life in their spacious Cape Cod style home.  That is, until the bottom fell out.

The Great Recession of the late 2000s hurt a lot of Americans.  Some were able to stay barely afloat, but many lost their homes.  Unfortunately, Jennifer and David lost theirs.  A mounting tax debt along with debt in most other areas of their life finally overcame their dwindling income.  Facing foreclosure, Jennifer and David made a last ditch effort to cut costs and chose to move to a one-hundred-year-old cabin in the woods of North Carolina.

What happens next does actually include goats; a tin roofed cabin with damp orange shag carpet, dangling electrical wires, and a cracked toilet; and a beautiful waterfall cascading down a mountain outside the cabin’s front door.

Jennifer’s honesty and humor about her family’s situation was refreshing, and perhaps may open up minds about the diversity within Appalachia.  The changing dynamics of the family were relatable and also heartbreaking as Jennifer and David struggled to make ends meet.  Their problems didn’t disappear overnight, and surely linger on at some level.

Recipes at the end of each chapter (including a “Molasses Cocktail for Finicky Goats”) give a picture of somewhat finer dining than you might expect in a leaky cabin in the woods.  Another thing that surprised and puzzled me a bit was Jennifer and David’s seemingly easy internet access as they searched madly for information about birthing goats, raising chicks, and making soap.  At one point they have no internet, no cable, and no cell service at the cabin, and then the next thing we know they are Googling with abandon.  Who knows, maybe they visited their local library for access?

Flat Broke with Two Goats was a recent “Big Library Read” by Overdrive, where they made unlimited e-book and audiobook copies available to anyone who wanted to check them out simultaneously.  Community reads often spark discussion amongst readers, and Overdrive provided online forums for people to do just that.  Head on over to Tennessee READS now to check it out, and let me know if you enjoy the story as much as I did.